New Releases – 20 July

New Releases – 20 July

15 July, 2009
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Yusuf Islam – Roadsinger Joe
Polydor

What to say about this latest from Yusuf? It sounds a lot like an old Cat Stevens track, with soothing folk-chord guitar, honeyed vocals and a fable in the lyrics. There's even a trademark dash of childish innocence. 

Yusuf can really sing and this is four minutes of easy listening magic. I really, really like this musician and I don't mind him recording more songs exactly like the old ones. But the magical '70s aura is a bit dated. 4/5
JH


Lung, Rotter and Seven – Dammer 
Pix Wax Records / Pure Groove Records
 
This begins with a whimsical, analogue meander round the houses by moonlight. 'Dammer'’s intro is pleasingly circular, and hints at Chemical Brother's 'One2Many Mornings' with its nuance of comedown reflection.
 
Sparse and darkly chipper, the tune is apparently produced entirely on Korg DS 10 synths (made originally for the Nintendo DS) which is pretty evident when you get to the end-game break down half way through. There’s a massive punch up between the goodies and the baddies. The goodies win of course. 4/5
LC


Jay-Z – D.O.A
RocNation

We all know that Jay-Z can’t sing. We saw this at last year’s Glastonbury when he decided to cover Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’.

And so he decides to begin his new single ‘Death of Auto-tune’ with some singing. It’s obviously meant to be an ironic and sarcastic comment on the music industry, but has Mr Z considered that this might fly over the heads of the average listener and all they’ll hear is some rapper sounding like a strangled cat?

Other than that it’s pretty good. 3.5/5
SL


The Fiery Furnaces – The End is Near
Rough Trade

Ah, those crazy kids The Fiery Furnaces – you never know what they’re going to do next. One minute it’s space rock, the next it’s '60s psychedelia: it’s as if they’ve got musical ADHD or something.

Admittedly it’s been a while since we’ve last seen them, and here they are back again with yet another musical flip-flop. What is it this time? A cheerily depressing piano-led pop ditty that sounds like it should be the soundtrack for a dysfunctional '80s sitcom starring Woody Harrelson and Ted Danson? Oh! It is… 3/5
DH


Fever Ray – Triangle Walks
Rabid

A little slow on the off, 'Triangle Walks' is awash with tribal Amazonian back beats and the obligatory Knife handclaps. As the lyrics kick in expect the usual Fever Ray tricks of synthy percussion and  sporadic ER theme-esque backing melodies. 

Not the best song on the album, but I find myself unable to find fault with the classic structure that she does so well. I particularly enjoyed the enigmatic web of Karin Dreijer Andersson lyrics about bully magpies and hungry Peeping Toms. 3/5
GM


The Beastie Boys ft. Nas – Too Many Rappers
Capitol

Discerning listeners will no doubt commend the collaborative flow of the four MCs on this solid hip hop track. Nas' whispery husk certainly provides a pleasing antidote to the Beastie Boys' characteristic whine. But the record lacks wow. There’s a strong mellow bass line which is too seldom given chance to shine, and it never launches into one of those fabulous funk breakdowns which marked the group out as instrumental masters.

They haven’t spoilt the broth, but it is a little stagnant. 3/5
RC


FrankMusik – Confusion Girl
Universal Island Records

I'm reaching a point of diminishing returns with this whole electro-pop blitzkrieg. La Roux gave me the most excruciating ear worm ever and now I have to listen to a certain FrankMusik, erstwhile beatboxer plying easy synthpop hooks and cheap lyrics.

'Confusion Girl', from his upcoming album 'Complete Me', is radio-friendly drivel with a palatable chorus. Frank's piping vocals do a fair job but he's no classically-trained Mika, whom he's been compared to. Sorry Frank, you're still more muzak than musik. 3/5
SL


The Voluntary Butler Scheme – Tabasco Sole
Split

Haven't we heard enough MJ tributes already? Evidently not. One-man band Rob Jones aka The Voluntary Butler Scheme appears to have 'borrowed' the guitar riff from The Jackson 5's 'I Want You Back'.

I'll forgive him though – the video for 'Tabasco Sole'  has cheered me up no end. It features some 'King Of The Rodeo'-style line dancing, only instead of the lovely Followill boys, there are four middle-aged women from Oxfordshire. Delightful. 2.5/5
GT 


Twilight Sad – I Became A Prostitute
Fat Cat
 
Everything is miserable in Glasgow. The weather is miserable. The people who work in McDonald’s are miserable. The people drinking Summer Lightning in Wetherspoon’s are miserable. The prostitutes are miserable. No, scratch that, the prostitutes are really miserable.
 
Attempting the very first documentary-song, ‘I Became a Prostitute’ is the Twilight Sad’s way of conveying the gritty realities on the streets of the 'weige through the medium of song. Yep – it’s pretty miserable. 2/5
DH


Beni ft. Sam Sparro – Maximus
Kitsune

Back in November when Emma had to review the latest Chipmunk track, she admirably admitted her lack of genre-specific knowledge: 'Perhaps I'm not the best person to review this', she wrote. I feel much the same about this offering from Belgian DJ fellow Beni.

It features Sam Sparro apparently, and I've heard of him and Lowri says this is disco house. But is that good? Well, it's called 'Maximus', which is cool. 'Commander of the armies of the North, general of the Felix legions...' Perhaps I'm just not the best person to review this. ?/5
TJ


You can't beat a bit of Gladiator. A slightly middling week this, with nothing setting our worlds on fire and nothing (thankfully) to make us resort to bad language. Disagree? Comment below. And join the Facebook Group please. It's cooler than the Jack Rabbit Slim Twist Contest.

Music Team